SPANISH FOOTBALL CLUBS DOMINATE FINANCES

The prestigious financial consultancy "Deloitte" has released its annual study on the finances of the most powerful Football (Soccer) teams. For the first time since the study began, the giants of Football suffer a significant decrease in their income. Its estimated that the top  20 Clubs will lose over 2 billion euros in revenue at the end of the 2020-21 season, reports the consultancy.

The ranking is still dominated by Spanish Football Clubs, FC Barçelona, repeats at the top of the ranking ahead of Real Madrid. Interestingly, no Premier League team is in the Top 3 after Bayern Munich climbs to the third place. Said this, FC Barcelona is currently undergoing an economic crisis with a huge debt that has it "technically" almost bankrupt. One would expect Real Madrid to overtake Barça in the Financial Ranking shortly. The Madrid Club has over the years been "prudent" with sending as they have strengthen the income side with merchandising & TV Rights.

 

Complete Top 10 ranking (euros) 2020:

1.FC Barcelona 715.1 million
2.Real Madrid 714.9 million
3.Bayern Munich 634.1 million
4.Manchester United 580.4 million
5.Liverpool 558.6 million
6.Manchester City 549.2 million
7.Paris Saint-Germain 540.6 million
8.Chelsea 469.7 million
9.Tottenham Hotspur 445.7 million
10. Juventus 397.9 million

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LA LIGA 2019-2020 | LEADING GOALSCORER - GOALKEEPER AFTER ROUND 20

The Spanish Football League - La Liga 2019/2020 - is currently at 20 Rounds from its total of 38 for a full season. Appropriate moment to see how the "Leading goalscorer" (EL PICHICHI) & "Leading goalkeeper" (EL ZAMORA) provisional classification tally is currently standing.

LA LIGA 2019-2020 season provisional leading TOP 10 leading goalscorers classification after Round 20:

1. Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona) 14 goals
2. Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) 12
3. Luis Suarez (FC Barcelona) 11
4. Ávila (Osasuna) 9
5. Roger (Levante) 9
6  Ángel (Getafe) 8
7. Budimir (Mallorca) 8
8. Gerard (Villarreal) 8
9. Loren (Real Betis) 8
10.Lucas Perez (Alaves) 8

LA LIGA 2019-2020 season provisional leading TOP 5 leading goalkeepers classification after Round 20:

1. Oblak (Atletico de Madrid) 14 goals received
2. Vaclik (FC Sevilla) 20
3. David Soria (Getafe) 20
4. Masip (Real Valladolid) 23
5. Rui Silva (Granada) 26

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UEFA CLUB RANKING | REAL MADRID Nº 1

European Football governing body UEFA has today released their Club Ranking with Spanish Football Club REAL MADRID at the Nº 1 spot with 146.000 points followed by another Spanish Football Club FC Barcelona in 2nd place with 138.000 pts. The next placed Spanish Club is Atletico de Madrid in 4th spot with Sevilla Fc in 7th place.

New crowned UEFA Champions League winners Liverpool FC is at Nº11 with runners-up Tottemham at number 17. 

UEFA Club Ranking:

1. Real Madrid CF: 146.000 points.

2. FC Barcelona: 138.000.

3. Bayern: 128.000.

4. Atletico de Madrid: 127.000.

5. Juventus CF: 124.000.

6. Manchester City: 106.000.

7. Sevilla FC: 104.000.

8. PSG: 103.000.

9. Arsenal FC: 101.000.

10. Oporto: 93.000.
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11. Liverpool FC
17. Tottenham Hotspurs

Other Spanish Football Clubs:

22. Villarreal

34. Athletic Club Bilbao

39. Valencia CF

74. Real Betis

75. Real Sociedad

76. Celta de Vigo

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SPANISH FOOTBALL | FC BARCELONA WINS LA LIGA TITLE 2018-2019

FC BARCELONA has mathematically proclaimed themselves SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA CHAMPIONS season 2018 - 2019 after winning their match today 1 - 0 against Levante FC.

Earlier today second placed Atletico de Madrid had won their game 1 - 0 against Valladolid making it necessary for a must win game by Barça if they wished to celebrate tonight the Liga Championship. They did just that, thus securing FC BARCELONA´s 26th LIGA TITLE & their 8th in the last 11 years!

This is how (above chart) the LIGA Classification table looks tonight after the ROUND 35 games played, with another handful of games still to be played tomorrow. The focus now shifts on which Clubs can conquer the vital 4th Champions League position, along with the Europa League places. Plus there is still "do or die" games left for the remaining 3 Rounds with another handful of Clubs trying to avoid relegation.

FC BARCELONA secured the LIGA Championship Title tonight after they defeated LEVANTE 1 - 0. The winning goal came from LIONEL MESSI in the 62th min to clinch the 3 points for his Club & mathematically secure the Spanish Football League Championship.

Congratulations FC BARCELONA!

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TOP 10 BEST PAID FOOTBALL PLAYERS IN THE WORLD

French Football Magazine "L'Equipe" has published their list of the Top 10 Football Players in earnings. Here is the list:

The Top 10 Best Paid Football | Soccer Players in the World

1º - Lionel Messi 8,3M€ Gross/Month (FC Barcelona)
2º - Cristiano Ronaldo 4,7M€ Gross/ Month  (Juventus FC)
3º - Antoine Griezmann 3,3M€ (Atletico de Madrid)
4º - Neymar 3,06M€  (PSG)
5º - Luis Suarez 2,9M€ (FC Barcelona)
6º - Gareth Bale 2,5M€ (Real Madrid)
7º - Philippe Coutinho 2,3M€ (FC Barcelona)
8º - Alexis Sanchez 2,28M€ (Man Utd)
9º - Kylian Mbappe 1,73M€ (PSG)
10º - Mesut Özil 1,6M€ (Arsenal FC)

As you can see a high percentage with this Top 10 list work in the Spanish Football League - La Liga

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UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DRAW | LUKA MODRIC UEFA BEST PLAYER

The European Football season officially kicked off this afternoon with the UEFA Champions League 2018-2019 Group draw & naming of the Best Players for the past UEFA season. As far as Spanish Football Clubs are concerned relatively speaking Atletico de Madrid & Real Madrid were more favoured in the match-ups as compared to FC Barcelona & Valencia CF.

While At Madrid in Group A has a tough nut in Borussia Dortmund & Monaco, as with Real Madrid in Group G with AC Roma, it is nothing like FC Barcelona in Group B with very difficult Tottenham, Inter Milan & PSV, while Valencia CF in Group H has Juventus FC & Manchester United. 

Said this, from the Football Fan point of view, there are some wonderful overall match-ups which will guarantee that Champions League remains the Best Club Competition in the World.

Below are all the Group match-ups, while UEFA Champions League starts the 18th of September. 

In the individual prize section REAL MADRID dominated globally, starting with the "UEFA Best Player of the Year 2017-2018" going to Real Madrid midfielder LUKA MODRIC. 

His Club team-mates also won prizes with the UEFA Best Goalkeeper going to KEYLOR NAVAS, 

UEFA Best Defender going to Real Madrid Captain SERGIO RAMOS, 

UEFA Best Midfielder going to Real Madrid & Croatian International LUKA MODRIC.

The big talking point of the ceremony was the absence of CRISTIANO RONALDO which left many baffled & speculating why he did not attend. The ex-Real Madrid ( now Juventus FC ) player was the winner of the UEFA Best Forward Award & he also was voted "Best Goal of Champions" against Juventus F with an overhead kick goal.

Congratulations to all the winners, & glad to see Modric receive a well earned recognition as the Top Player he is putting him on course for perhaps a FIFA Golden Ball Award. Stay tuned! 

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SPANISH KEEPER KEPA TO SIGN FOR CHELSEA FC | KOVACIC ON LOAN

CHELSEA FC & Belgium International goalkeeper Courtois has a shut transfer deal with REAL MADRID weeks back. However, Chelsea would not make the transfer official until the English Club has shut a quality substitute to take the place of Courtois to defend their goal.

With the transfer window shutting the 9th of August & Courtois pressuring the London Club to be let go, Chelsea has moved fast, very fast, & set target on Spanish International & Athletic Club Bilbao goalkeeper KEPA Arrizabalaga. The young Spanish promise has a 80M€ contract release clause that Chelsea FC is willing to pay. Remember Kepa was on the Real Madrid agenda as a firm-shut signing target early this year but did not eventually go through.

The news right now is that KEPA seems to have agreed to make the move over to London & is currently in Madrid talking with his representatives to shut the deal. Right now everything indicates that Kepa will be the new Chelsea FC goalkeeper for 80M€ making him the highest goalkeeper transfer record in Football. This obviously will give Courtois the green light for the official announcement by Chelsea FC of his move to REAL MADRID.

Staying with Real Madrid, it seems Croatian midfielder KOVACIC will also be heading to Chelsea FC on-loan. The player has expressed that he wishes to leave Madrid because he needs to play more, have a stable & continuos participation, instead of sitting on the bench. Real Madrid does not wish to sell but understands the players desire & has offered the option of playing a year in London. Everything here at this moment indicates that the player will take up this option, although nothing is official from the concerning Clubs. Stay tuned here. 

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FC BARCELONA | ARTURO VIDAL SIGNS FOR 3 YEARS

Its official, FC BARCELONA has signed Chilean International & Bayern Munich midfielder ARTURO VIDAL for 20M€ & with a 3 year contract. The player joins the other new incorporations this off-season like Brazilians Arthur & Malcom wth French defender Lenglet. 

The signing adapts two aspects, the first, the desire by Coach Valverde to have a solid substitute for the departed Paulinho who was sold of to Chinese Football. Secondly, the relative "low" transfer price made it all too attractive for Barcelona, although once again, the Spanish Club interfered in the last moments in an advanced operation (remember Malcom with AC Roma) with another Club (this case Inter Milan) to "take" the player. 

The Chilean passed the medical exam which was focused mainly on his knee, as the midfielder has been sidelined months with ligament problems. This was the only existing hurdle which was passed with a green light by the Barça doctors. 

The incorporation of Vidal distances somewhat FC Barcelona from their traditional form of Football. This is not to surprise anyone as basic & fundamental players like Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol etc which are exceptional & have left the Club. Vidal is a more physical & aggressive player that employs a more direct Football than "touch". 

The 31 year old midfielder has his last opportunity to stay relevant at the top level with a high profile Club. Everyone wishes that Vidal is able to exploit this chance & not allow his "erratic behaviour" off the field to spoil it all.  

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LA LIGA SEASON 2018-2019 GAMES CALENDER

The "Spanish Royal Federation of Football" (RFEF) celebrated today the draw for LA LIGA season 2018-2019 matches calendar. Important dates:

• FC BARCELONA - REAL MADRID CF: 28th Oct 2018 / 3rd Mar 2019
• REAL MADRID - ATLETICO DE MADRID: 30th Sep 2018/ 10th Feb 2019 
• REAL BETIS - SEVILLA FC: 2nd Sept 2018 / 14th April 2019
• AT.BILBAO - REAL SOCIEDAD: 7th Oct 2018 / 3rd Feb 2019

The Copa del Rey - Spanish Cup Final is provisionally scheduled for the 25th of May 2019.

LA LIGA kicks of season 2018 - 2019 on the 19th of August 2018 and you can see the full calender of LA LIGA en the following link (LA LIGA calender 2018-2019).

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FIFA 2018 THE BEST 10 CANDIDATES LIST

FIFA has announced today their 10 Candidates for THE BEST AWARD 2018. There are no Spanish born players but as expected many who currently play professionally in the Spanish Liga competition. The full list of 10 names are:

• De Bruyne (Manchester City - Belgium)
• Rafael Varane ( Real Madrid - France)
• Mbappé (PSG - France)
• Griezmann (At Madrid - France)
• Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid/Juventus FC - Portugal)
• Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona - Argentina)
• Harry kane (Tottenham Hotspurs - England)
• Luka Modric (Real Madrid - Croatia)
• Salah (Liverpool FC - Egypt)
• Eden Hazard (Chelsea FC - Belgium)

The 2018 Russia World Cup will have a heavy weight in the voting, along with the Champions League & Europa League; the favourites are Antoine Griezmann & Luka Modric.

The note to observe is NO Neymar JR is present. This player is missing his "trains" of opportunities" it seems. 

From the 24th of July until the 10th of August a panel of experts elected by FIFA will reduce the list to 3 players. The winner will be announced in London on the 24th of Septembre during the FIFA THE BEST AWARD ceremony. 

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REAL MADRID | ICARDI - THE NEED FOR GOALS

Everyone is waiting for REAL MADRID CF to make a signing BOMB announcement. The exit of Cristiano Ronaldo lifts expectations as that the void left open needs to be filled with a player similar in status & "pulling power".  The fact is that there are only very few names in World Soccer that fill the profile; Neymar JR, Mbappé, Harry Kane, Eden Hazard ... & little more of which all are extremely difficult to pull out of their current Clubs.

The current state of affairs adds more difficulties & pessimism to the situation as Mbappé has stated he will NOT leave Paris St Germain along with team-mate NEYMAR JR who also has stated the he too WILL NOT LEAVE Paris St Germain (for the moment). The others like HARRY KANE is impossible due to his contract & market price, while EDEN HAZARD who wants to go to Real Madrid has Chelsea FC reluctant to let him go with a huge market price of around 200M€ that the Spanish Club does not wish to pay.

Putting aside these names & targets, from a tactical & practical point of view what REAL MADRID really needs to fill is a goalscorer, a Striker that can assure 25-35 goals a season, a feat that Ronaldo was achieving on a seasonal basis. This is the fundamental piece of the puzzle that is now missing & should be the main priority.

A name is now doing the rumour mill that can fit the profile & Club needs: MAURO ICARDI of Inter Milan. The 25 year old Argentine forward was on the Real Madrid agenda during the previous "Winter Market" & has scored last season 29 goals in the always difficult Italian Serie A. The player has an accesible 120M€ contract release clause that makes the forward a realistic target. We will have to wait on developments. 

The other option B is to fill the lost "goal quota" is Bayen Munich forward Robert Lewandowski a well known past target. While English Club Manchester United is apparently also interested & tempting the Polish International, the player may hold out if Real Madrid send over "positive signs" of a true desire.

So there you have it punters, the next Real Madrid signings could be diverting to other lesser "sounding" ( no less magnificent) names for a more practical approach. The other popular players already mentioned above have voiced their negative desire to make a move from their current Clubs, their huge transfer market price or difficulties make them a "discard" for the Spanish Club.

Just to end, I would not however discount Hazard just yet, although "tactically" for Real Madrid they already have Isco & Asensio for the same position. If the price is lowered Real Madrid may take advantage of the unique opportunity looking ahead long term.

Stay tuned!

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REAL MADRID - HAZARD | PREPARING A 170M€ OFFER

With the exit of CRISTIANO RONALDO from REAL MADRID the Spanish Club has to "fill the gap" left open with a World Class Player,  & specially Goals. Cristiano Ronaldo guaranteed each season between 40 - 50 goals for Real Madrid & substituting this is currently not available in the World Soccer Market.

Two names come up when analysing this asset; Neymar Jr & Mbappe both currently at Paris St Germain. The feasibility of Real Madrid signing the above names are at this moment extremely difficult. However, Real Madrid is attempting to sign for this year Neymar & the operation could go over the 300M€ transfer price tag. Needs to be seen if this will happen. 

But there is a World Class player more accesible & himself willing to get to REAL MADRID: EDEN HAZARD. News out of the UK through the "Daily Mail" claims the Spanish Club is preparing a 170M€ transfer offer for Chelsea FC in order to lock down Hazard. The player has voiced his desire to get to Madrid & is "stalling" his renovation with Chelsea FC in hope of receiving the Real Madrid call. 

Obviously this possible signing would assure the "media impact" needed to counteract the exit by Ronaldo & lift fan-base hopes for the new season. Hazard is a wonderful player but will not cover the 40+ goals that Ronaldo gave each season. The Belgium International would also compete with Isco, Asensio & Ceballos & this may have to be previous looked at in depth by the technical team. 

What Real Madrid needs as a priority is a Centre Forward that can score 20-30 goals per season, a true Striker, & after this all the extras like Harzard etc would be an added plus.

Lets await developments theses coming weeks as the transfer market will be full of rumours, speculations & even "fake news". Stay tuned!

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LA LIGA 2017-2018 | BEST GOALSCORER AND GOALKEEPER

The Spanish Football season - LA LIGA - 2017 - 2018 has ended & the final results for Top Goalscorer & Best Goalkeeper goes to Lionel Messi & Oblak respectively. The FC Barcelona player Lionel Messi scored 34 goals this season & also takes the "European Golden Boot Award", while Atletico de Madrid goalie Oblak only had 22 goals scored & wins his 3rd straight "El Zamora" Award.

Here are the final Top 10 List for both categories:

LA LIGA season 2017-2018 TOP GOALSCORERS - "El Pichichi"

NAME   GOALS SCORED

Messi (FC Barcelona) 34 goals
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 26
Luis Suarez (FC Barcelona) 25
Iago Aspas (Celta de Vigo) 22
Stuani (Girona) 21
Griezmann (Atletico de Madrid) 19
Maxi Gomez (Celta de Vigo) 17
Gareth Bale (Real Madrid) 15
Rodrigo (Valencia) 16
Gerard (Espanyol) 16

LA LIGA season 2017-2018 BEST GOALKEEPERS - "El Zamora"

NAME   GOALS GAMES/PLAYED

Oblak (Atletico de Madrid)  22 goals 36 games played
Ter Stegen (FC Barcelona) 28 36
Guaita (Getafe) 26 32
Neto (Valencia CF)   33 33
Pau López (Espanyol) 31 28
Navas (Real Madrid) 31 27
Cuéllar (Leganes) 43 35
Dmitrovic (Eibar) 49 35
Fernando Pacheco (Alaves) 50 36
Kepa (Athletic Bilbao) 43 29

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FC BARCELONA 2 REAL MADRID 2 | EL CLASICO | LA LIGA ROUND 36

Round 36 of LA LIGA celebrated its big match, "El Clasico" between FC BARCELONA & REAL MADRID with the final result a 2 - 2 draw. It was a "strange" derby as Barça was already mathematically confirmed Liga Champions while Real Madrid had their collective thoughts on the Champions League Final next 26th of May. 

However the rivalry is strong enough to give a very entertaining game & the sparks flew throughout the whole match. There were individual clashes, Ramos & Suarez was to note, Barça defender Sergi Roberto was sent off with a RED CARD for hitting Marcelo & sparks flew with Alba & every Real Madrid player he came across, example Modric. There was also a penalty to Marcelo in the second half not called & other actions not called like the Suarez pass to Messi that lead to the second goal that was a foul on Varane before the action not called, as said earlier, typical "clasico" game.

FC BARCELONA started stronger & scored first when Sergi Roberto found space on his flank to pass onto LUIS SUAREZ who scored in the 9th min. Marcelo left his area open after an attack that was exploited, an event repeating itself too much that will need to be rectified & solved as soon as possible.

However, while the defending of Marcelo can be questioned, his attacking is outstanding. His pass found the head of Benzema who placed the ball in front of CRISTIANO RONALDO who scored in the 14th min. In scoring Ronaldo received a knock on the ankle by Pique which caused some pain to the Portugués forward who managed to stay on the pitch all the first half but was substituted for Asensio for the second half. This looked a precautionary action by Coach Zidane to not risk his star player for bigger things in coming weeks. 

The first half end with Sergi Roberto being sent off with a RED CARD for hitting Marcelo. The game had been heated up by Suarez, Messi, Sergi Ramos & Marcelo, & Sergi Roberto fell into the "contextual trap".   

With 10 men Barcelona fronted the second half better than Real Madrid & dominated right up to their second goal in the 51st min by MESSI. The goal should not have been given as it came from a Suarez pass who previous fouled Rafael Varane.  More controversy later, when Barça defender Alba fouled Marcelo in the area & a penalty was not given.

Real Madrid equalized in the 71st min with a brilliant shot by GARETH BALE that beat Ter Stegan squarely. Both teams had their opportunities later to take the match but Real Madrid goalie KEYLOR NAVAS did his magic with a superb save from a Suarez attempt, while the Barça defence held out Real Madrid the last 10 minutes with their continuous attacks.

Shared points tonight.
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SERGIO RAMOS | TOP RED CARD HOLDER IN LA LIGA HISTORY

The red card given to Real Madrid Captain & defender Sergio Ramos against Deportivo yesterday in Pound 1 of LA LIGA season 2017-2018 makes him the player with most "sending offs" in the History of the Spanish Football competition. Although the red card was initially "excessive" & Real Madrid will appeal against it to the "Arbitrary Tribunal", the fact is that Sergio Ramos is up there on the all-time list of red card receivers in Spanish Football.

The current Top 10 list is:

• Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid) – 18 red cards in 405 Liga matches
• Pablo Alfaro (Zaragoza, Barça, Racing, At. Madrid, Sevilla…) - 18 (418 games)
• Xavi Aguado (Real Zaragoza) – 18 (383 games)
• Juanito (Zaragoza, At Madrid, Sevilla …) – 17
• Patxi Salinas (Ath.Bilbao, Celta …) 15
• Fernando Hierro (Real Madrid) – 14
• Lopo (Espanyol, Deportivo…) – 14
• Santi Denia (At Madrid) – 14
• Carlos Marchena (Valencia, Sevilla, Deportivo…) – 13
• Pochettino (Espanyol) – 13

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SPANISH FOOTBALL | LA LIGA ROUND 13 SUNDAY RESULTS

Spanish Football and La Liga continued today with more Round 13 matches. Here are the respective final results along with the goalscorers.

Atletico de Madrid travelled to Osasuna and needed a win to stay in touch in the Liga race. Their recent losses has pushed them down the classification table & a negative result would have put things uphill for the rest of the season.

The final result Osasuna 0 - Atletico de Madrid 3 with the visitors putting in a good performance that should lift their spirits & aspirations again. The goalscorers were Godin in the 35th min, Gameiro in the 36th min and Carrasco in the 89th min.

Other scores:

• Celta 3 ( Aspas, Bongonda, Cheika) - Granada 1 (Kravets)
• Villarreal 0 - Alaves 2 ( Gomez, Camarasa)

Bad match by FC Barcelona on a ground that has not been good for them in past seasons. Real Sociedad had a wonderful 1º half but failed to convert their opportunities, & this is not good against Barça. Although they went ahead through Willian Jose in the 52nd min, Barça managed to equalize in the 58th min through Messi.

The match then went into end to end mode...Real Sociedad continued to "sin" in missing their many goal opportunities. FC Barcelona allowed off the hook. Final result 1 - 1.

Next week FC Barcelona plays Real Madrid!

Monday Night Round 13 match:
Las Palmas - Athletic Club Bilbao

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SPANISH FOOTBALL | LA LIGA ROUND 12 SATURDAY RESULTS

Spanish Football action tonight with Round 12 Liga matches scheduled. The main game of the Round was the city of Madrid derby that faced two Liga title contenders: At. Madrid with Real Madrid. As all eyes focused on this match, earlier another title contender FC Barcelona drew 0 - 0 with Malaga FC thus losing points.

With Barça tripping early, Real Madrid had their chance to stretch the table lead & they did not fail. Real Madrid defeated away 0 - 3 Atletico de Madrid giving a heavy blow to the home side which falls behind in the their Liga title aspirations. Meanwhile the victory gives Real Madrid a 4 point opening space with Barça.

Atletico de Madrid was outplayed tonight by their city rivals. Although Atletico had their chances to even things in the second half they failed to take the opportunity and was punished later. Real Madrid won the midfield and in doing so neutralized the ball serving to Atletico de Madrid´s main front man Griezmann. The Frenchman had a very bad night & simply disappeared as Real Madrid´s star Cristiano Ronaldo had his big night.

The Portuguese Forward managed a HAT-TRICK ( 21st, 70th (penalty) & 76th min) tonight to put his claim & personal vote forward for this years FIFA Golden Ball. The first was a free-kick goal that got a deflection, the second a penalty which was doubtful & the third a knock-in from a precision Bale pass. The difference between Atletico & Real Madrid was that the latter converted their opportunities. 

The best player for Atletico de Madrid was Carrasco who was tireless & have some very close ones that did not become goal.The other player to mention for At Madrid was goalie Oblak who made some excellent saves.

Other scores:

• Malaga FC 0 - FC Barcelona 0
• Eibar 1 - Celta 0
• Deportivo 2 - Sevilla FC 3
• Real Betis 2 - Las Palmas 0

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SPANISH FOOTBALL | LA LIGA ROUND 11

Spanish Football Round 11 of La Liga has given some interesting results. Played over three days, starting with the opener Friday night, the final results have moved around the classification positions in the upper part of the ladder.

The loss of Atletico de Madrid away to Real Sociedad & the victory of Villarreal over Real Betis has changed ladder positions dramatically: see classification on widget.

All the results - with goalscorers - can be see on the widget placed on the right hand side. Here I will summarizes the big two matches this Sunday.

Real Madrid won 3 - 0 fellow city Club Leganes. The man of the match was Gareth Bale with two goals along with the third by Alvaro Morata. The contract renewal by Bale with Real Madrid extra motivated the Welshman who was everywhere & could have gotten his hat-trick had he been more accurate.

Leganes played well considering they haven´t the same "resources" as Real, but Coach Garitano was not happy as he expected more from his team. Good news for Real Madrid with Modric back fron a 40 + day injury space playing 30 mins today.

The win keeps Real Madrid undefeated this season & top of La Liga table.

Top game of Football with FC Barcelona having to work to come back & win 1 - 2 Sevilla FC. Intense start from Sevilla FC which dominated the 1º half & put Barça on the canvass after Vitolo scored the opener in the 14th min.

However, Barça managed to pick themselves up while Sevilla FC missed their chances of another knock-out blow. Messi lifted this team with the equalizer in the 42nd min which psychologically gave wings to Barça.

The 2º half was dominated by Barça as Sevilla suffered their earlier psychical efforts. Luis Suarez put Barça ahead in the 60th min to take control. Sevilla then had chances to equalize but again failed to finish. 

Important win for FC Barcelona that avoids rival Real Madrid opening up an important gap in the classification table. The win just keeps the gap to 2 points.   
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SPANISH FOOTBALL | LA LIGA ROUND 9 SUNDAY GAMES RESULTS

Spanish Football today with the Sunday games for Round 9 of La Liga. Following are brief summaries of the final results along with all the goalscorers.

Celta de Vigo took the "Galicia Regional" derby winning Deportivo A Coruña 4 - 1. Deserved victory with Celta having all the answers & control. The goals fell in the following order:

• Mallo 31st min, 1 - 0
• Albentosa 36th min, 1 - 1
• Aspas 59th min (penalty), 2 - 1
• Orellana 77th min, 3 - 1
• Aspas 82nd min, 4 - 1

The man of the match went to Celta forward Aspas who had his day.

Sevilla FC inflicted the first lost this season for Atletico de Madrid winning 1 - 0. The game was very tactical with everything occurring in the midfield zone. An area saturated with players as both teams were more conservative than adventurous.

However, a brilliant pass mid 2º half from ex-Atletico Vietto found N´Zonzi who got away from the visiting defenders in score the only & winning goal in the 73rd min.

Shortly after Atletico lost Koke to a red card (double yellow) to leave his team down to 10 men. There was no time or way for Atletico to find the equalizer.

Big moral victory for Sevilla FC which finds itself up there in the classification table with the big team. Questioned Sevilla Coach Sampoli wins some credit & prestige.

Villarreal was pushed by Las Palmas but managed to win in extremis 2 - 1. Although Las Palmas got ahead first through the 30th min goal by Boateng, the talent & class of the Villarreal team came through. Sansone equalized in the 63rd min & Bakambu got the winner in the 91st min.

Malaga FC was too strong winning Madrid Club Leganes 4 - 0. The goals came in the following order:

• Jony 39th min, 1 - 0
• Chory Castro 41st min, 2 - 0
• Sandro 56th min, 3 - 0
• Camacho 91st min, 4 - 0

Real Madrid just got through for a 2 - 1 victory over Athletic Club Bilbao. Lots of chances for both teams, especially Bilbao which failed to finish. Young Athletic forward Iñaki Williams had a couple opportunities missed without explanation. Said this same occurred with Cristiano Ronaldo who is going through a goalless spell, with clear misses that are not habitual. One in the end which was unexplainable. 

Real Madrid dominated most play but made many mistakes defensively & in their passing that always allowed the visitors to get back into the game.

Real Madrid opened the scoring through Benzema from a pin point pass from Isco in the 7th min. Bilbao then put in a great spell of Football earning the equalizer in the 26th min through Sabin. The match was then wide open with end to end play & opportunities for both teams. Real Madrid began losing control in the 2º half which made Coach Zidane make changes Lucas Vazquez (for Isco) & Morata (for Benzema).

The winner came in the 82nd min when Gareth Bale passed to find Morata who scored after scrambling from his first attempt to get the ball into the net.

Real Madrid maintains top spot of La Liga classification table, but their game tonight was not at all good & could have been easily a loss. 

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BEST 10 FOOTBALL PLAYERS IN THE WORLD

British paper "Daily Mail" has published its list of the "Best 10 Football Players on the Planet". A subjective list that can be perfectly be debated with an over emphasis on forward position players, & may I add,  some over-rated players.

It is obvious that "goal" is the heart of Football & that image, along with Marketing overshadows pure talent. That´s Football,  & that´s today culture.

What is again highlighted however is the dominance of Spanish Football: its Liga & its Club Clubs. As seen on the list Real Madrid & FC Barcelona dominate with players

The list of 10 are:

• Cristiano Ronaldo ( Real Madrid )
• Leo Messi ( FC Barcelona)
• Neymar (FC Barcelona)
• Luis Suarez ( FC Bareclona)
• Gareth Bale ( Real Madrid)
• Aguero (Manchester City)
• Ibrahimovic (Manchester United)
• Neuer ( Bayern Munich)
• Iniesta (FC Barcelona)
• Pogba (Manchester United)

Do you agree?

I put forward the following questions, where is Griezmann? Godin ? Modric or even Toni Kroos?

In my opinion, Neymar is the "Worlds most overrated player" , along side Pogba. Plus Ibrahimovic is simply a "joke" to be placed on this list.

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